A disastrous and unforgettable anniversary
by amyvictoriaa
Summary: Matthew takes Mary out on their wedding anniversary, but was it really a good idea to go out on such a dark night when the weather was so bad? One of the characters may end up fighting for their life.
1. Prologue

_This is just an introduction to the main story. It includes Mary &amp; Matthew's most important moments. Please R&amp;R. Reviews make my day and they also inspire me to write the next chapter and as a result i post chapters a lot quicker._

_Diclamer: I do not own any of the characters, they belong to Julian Fellows._

_I hope you enjoy it:)x_

* * *

-THE PROPOSAL-

Mary and Matthew had decided to go for a walk down to the stables, the weather wasn't very good and the sky was filled with grey clouds but they just wanted to be alone for a while. They were nearly at the stable doors when it started to rain heavily. Mary let out a little cry when she looked down at her already soaking dress. Matthew grabbed her by the arm and pulled her under a large oak tree for shelter.

"Here" he said, taking her into his arms, shielding her from the cold and the rain. "Much better" he added.

Mary looked up at Matthew, rain dripping from his messy hair, his eyes were locked on hers, they were so blue, so beautiful she thought. She was shivering but she didn't feel cold, she was in Matthew's arms, how could she be cold?

Matthew couldn't help but stare at her, all he could think about was how beautiful she looked. Everything about her was perfect, her eyes, they were sparkling, she looked magical. Little strands of her hair were falling down over her shoulders where the wind had blown them loose, out of her bun underneath her hat. Matthew loved her hair down, he loved seeing her long dark brown curls fall around her shoulders. He was memorized by her.

They looked at each other for a while longer before suddenly Matthew released her from his arms and took her hands in his. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he lowered himself to the ground until he was kneeling down on one knee in front of her.

She didn't want him to stop cuddling her, he was keeping her so warm, but when he took her hands in his, she smiled, even his slightest touch kept her warm. When she noticed that he was kneeling down in front of her, she wiped the smile off her face and froze as she realized what his intentions were.

"Mary…" he said nervously "I love you so much, I've loved you since the day we first met. I couldn't believe how beautiful you were when I saw you for the first time, it left me speechless and you've only gotten more beautiful. I simply can't imagine my life without you anymore, I don't want to imagine a life without you. I want you by my side every step of the way, because the day I become Earl of Grantham, I want you to stand by my side as Countess. I can't imagine anyone being more suited for the post as you… I suppose what I'm trying to say… or rather ask is… Lady Mary Crawley, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he held his breath for a minute, waiting for her response.

Mary couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, every word that came out of his mouth sounded overwhelming. She thought she might be dreaming, but then again, it all felt so real. But what was she supposed to say to him? Nobody had ever said anything like that to her before, he made her feel so special. She felt a tear rolling down her face. She had never felt so happy. She was oblivious to everything else around her; the rain, the wind, the noises. It was just her and Matthew, the man she loved with all her heart, she never thought she could love anybody as much as she did him in that moment. Of course she wanted to marry him! That's all she had ever wanted; to marry for love. She wanted to answer but she couldn't speak for the lump in her throat. So she decided to simply nod. She couldn't stop nodding.

"Yes, yes!" she said, not being able to hold back her tears a second longer. "Of course I will marry you!" She jumped into his arms and cried tears of joy.

"Yes?" Matthew asked, just making sure he had heard her correctly. Seeing the smile on her face he suddenly realized what had just happened and he had never in his life felt happier. He took her in his arms and spun her around.

Mary couldn't have imagined a better scene, this was better than in her novels. The scene must look magical she thought; the fact that Matthew was spinning her around, under an old oak tree, the sun appearing in the sky and making the rain look like glitter falling from the clouds above their heads. How perfect, she thought. She closed her eyes as Matthew spun her. She couldn't believe that they were now engaged and she just wanted to tell the world.

"I love you Matthew Crawley" she said as he put her down.

"And I love you, so very, very much" he replied before pressing a warm kiss to her lips and pulling her closer to him to take her back in his arms.

* * *

-THE WEDDING-

"How do I look?" she asked her sisters as Anna took a step backwards to get a better look at her.

"You look beautiful" said Sybil, walking over to her eldest sister and placing a kiss on her cheek.

Edith just stared at her, feeling jealous. Mary was getting everything she had ever dreamt of. How typical she thought to herself.

"Oh my darling, I'm so happy for you." Said Cora as she took her daughter's hands in hers. "I'm glad you and Matthew finally put your differences aside. Your feelings for one another have been clear from the very start."

"Thank you mama, I'm happy too and I think I'm going to be for a very long time." She said, with a big smile on her face.

"Milady, it's time to go down" interrupted Anna as she pointed to the door.

Mary looked around at her sisters and at her mother, took a deep breath and walked towards the door. Sybil and Edith were the first to walk downstairs, and Mary and Cora followed.

"Here comes the bride!" Sybil shouted as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Mary.

Robert, who had been stood waiting for them for twenty minutes, quickly turned around to see his eldest daughter walking down the stairs. He just stood there and watched her, she was absolutely stunning. She wore a long white dress that trailed behind her, with lace sleeves and trimmings. In her hair, holding up her veil, she wore one of the family's heirlooms; a silver head piece, filled with tiny diamonds. Although her hair was tied back, she still had a few curly strands hanging down. She was the very definition of perfection. Robert had never felt prouder.

"Papa, will I do?" she asked as she reached the bottom of the staircase.

"You are the most beautiful bride I have ever laid eyes on, I'm so very proud of you Mary." He answered walking over to his daughter and offering her his arm.

She had rode to the church in a carriage, pulled by four white horses. She was surprised to see how many people from the village had come to support her. She waved and smiled as they passed them.

Matthew was anxiously waiting at the front of the church with his best man, Tom, by his side. Tom had been trying to keep him calm but hadn't been very successful in doing so. Tom had already been through all of this with Sybil, but it hadn't been as grand as Matthew and Mary's wedding was. It had only been a little reception in Ireland, this wedding on the other hand had been the talk of the village since the day they announced their engagement. Everybody they had ever met and some that they hadn't had turned up. Tom felt quite nervous himself, never mind Matthew.

As the music started to play, both men stood up and Matthew took a deep breath. This is actually happening he thought to himself, it didn't feel real. He could hear people commenting on how nice Mary looked and he turned round to have a look for himself. His eyes instantly met hers, he felt more relaxed then. Was it possible for a woman to be this beautiful? He thought. She looked absolutely wonderful, like a goddess. Her dark eyes and hair stood out against the white of her dress. She was perfect.

As Mary walked down the aisle towards Matthew, she felt butterflies in her tummy, she felt nervous but so very happy at the same time. She smiled at the guests and wondered why Matthew hadn't turned around yet. But when he did and her eyes met his she couldn't help but smile, she didn't know that one day she would be this happy.

When they finally stood side by side, Matthew leaned over and whispered into her ear.

"You look beautiful" he said and she turned towards him and simply smiled, feeling so very, very lucky.

* * *

-MARY IS ILL-

She had been waking up feeling sick every morning. Matthew was starting to worry but she refused to call for Doctor Carson. She just kept telling herself that she had the flu.

Matthew woke up when he heard a door slam, he looked over to Mary's side of the bed which was empty. Not again, he thought to himself. He got out of bed, put on his dressing gown and headed to the bathroom where he knew Mary would be.

When he got there, he pushed the door open and saw Mary leaning over the toilet, being sick whilst Anna sat beside her and held back her hair.

"My darling, I'm going to call for Clarkson today, and I won't take no for an answer." He said as he walked over to her.

"Matthew, I don't like you seeing me like this, please leave" she asked, not moving her head away from the toilet.

"When I was injured during the war, did you leave me side? No, you looked after me every day and tended to my wounds. When I was told that I would never walk again, did you leave my side then? I have the answer to that too; no, you didn't. So if you think that I'm going to leave you while you're clearly not well, then you've got another thing coming." He said, reaching out and stroking her head. "Anna, would you go send for Doctor Clarkson, please?" he asked the young lady's maid.

"Of course, ring the bell if you need anything else." She said as Matthew took over from her.

"Thank you Anna." he said as she walked towards the door.

Later that day, Clarkson came and examined her.

"It's good news" he said, smiling at her. "You are not ill and you don't have the flu".

"Ah, good, that's just what I've been telling everyone but no one seems to listen to m-"

"You've been sick every morning for the past six days, is that right?" he asked, cutting her off.

"Yes, but why does that matter? You've just said yourself that nothing's the matter with me…" she answered back, not understanding what he was trying to tell her.

"My lady, I am very pleased to tell you that you are pregnant" he announced "All the symptoms are pointing towards pregnancy. It's still early days and you will have to take it easy." He added.

Mary hadn't heard anything after the word 'pregnant'. She had only been married two months, it was all happening so quickly. She didn't know what to say, or what to think for that matter.

"Pregnant?!" she asked "Are you sure?"

"Quite certain" he said, without hesitating.

"Oh." Was her only reaction.

"Are you alright, my lady? Should I call for Lady Grantham or-"

"No, I'm quite alright" she said, cutting him off.

"Well then, if you're sure, I'll be leaving now." He added. "If you have any questions, just ask me, I'm here to help" he said, trying to reassure her.

"Yes, thank you Clarkson, goodbye" she said as she watched him walk out of her bedroom. What was she going to do? Was she ready to become a mother? She'd never really thought about it before. Would she even be a good mother? What was Matthew going to say? All these questions were giving her headache so she decided to have a sleep and rest her eyes for a while.

Matthew had been worried about her and when he saw doctor Clarkson leave her room, he quickly walked over to him and asked him what was wrong with her.

"I can only tell you that it is not serious, but you should ask her if you want more details" he told him before saying his goodbyes and walking downstairs towards the door.

This didn't calm Matthew down at all, if anything, it made him even more worried. Why couldn't Clarkson just tell me, he thought. Not able to wait any longer, he walked into the bedroom and found Mary asleep in bed. He walked over to her and stroked her head which woke her up. Realizing Matthew was with her, she moved over a little so that he could sit down beside her.

"How are you? What did Clarkson say?" he asked, worried.

"I'm fine, really, there was nothing to worry about." She told him, wondering how she was going to tell him that they were going to have their first baby.

"Well if that's the case, why have you been sick every day for almost a week?" he asked, knowing she wasn't telling him the whole story.

She began to cry, not knowing what to say. She didn't even know how he would react.

Matthew put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, stroking her head.

"My darling, please tell me what it is" he asked again.

"Matthew, I-I really don't know how to say this, and I'm not even sure how I feel about it, or how you'll feel about it for that matter. I-"

"Mary, you're worrying me now, please just tell me what it is" he said, confused at why she was getting so worked up.

"I'm pregnant, Matthew." She finally told him, bursting into tears.

"Oh my darling! That's brilliant news! Why couldn't you have just told me?" he asked, feeling more excited than he had ever felt before.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, feeling a little bit relieved.

"Of course I do, don't you?" he asked.

"I'm not sure what to think, it's all happening so quickly!" she said before pulling him closer to her and crying on his shoulder.

"Mary listen to me" he said, taking her head in his hands and looking her in the eyes "You are going to have a baby, our baby and you are going to be a brilliant mother, I know you will be and I'm not leaving you, I'm not going anywhere, I'll always be here for you, both of you. I promise, everything will be alright."

"I love you Matthew" she said.

"I love you too my darling".

* * *

-MARY GIVES BIRTH-

"I wish I could go upstairs and be with her." Matthew told Robert as the two of them were sat having a brandy whilst the women were all upstairs with Mary as she was giving birth.

"Be patient my boy, it will all be over soon and you can see her afterwards." He told his son-in-law, trying to reassure him.

"I need Matthew, someone get him for me, now!" she said before screaming out in agony again.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea Mary" said Sybil, sticking to the rules for once.

"I need him, please!" she screamed.

"Mary, at the next contraction I need you to push" said Dr. Clarkson who was stood at the end of the bed with Isobel, who had insisted on being there.

"Not without Matthew!" she said stubbornly, trying to control her breathing.

"For heaven's sake! Someone go get him" said Cora starring at her two youngest daughters.

"I'll go…" said Edith walking towards the door. She hurried downstairs and walked into the drawing room where she found Matthew and Robert.

"Has the baby been born? How's Mary? How's the baby?" asked Matthew as he jumped to his feet.

"Is it a girl or a boy?" Robert asked his daughter.

"She hasn't had it yet, she keeps asking for you and she doesn't intend on giving birth without you." Edith told Matthew but before she could say anything else, he had already put down his brandy and left the room. Edith followed.

"Matthew!" Mary held out her arm as he entered the room.

"How is everything?" he asked, taking her hand in his.

"Now that you are here, everything is fine" said Isobel, smiling at her son.

"I need you to push now, my lady".

Mary squeezed Matthew's hand as tight as she could (nearly breaking it in the process) and pushed, using every little bit of strength she had left in her body, causing her to scream into Matthew ears which nearly deafened him. Dear god, is she trying to kill me? He thought to himself but avoided making the remark seen as she was in so much pain and doing so well.

"It's almost here now, I can see its head, one more big push Mary!" said Isobel as she watched her first grandchild being born.

"You're doing so well my darling" said Matthew before kissing her hand.

"How would you know?" she screamed at him, breathlessly.

Charming, he thought to himself, but he only held her hand tighter and whispered words of encouragement as she pushed one last time and the cries of their new born baby filled the air.

"It's a boy!" said Sybil without taking her eyes off her nephew.

"I'm so proud of you my darling" said Matthew as he pressed his lips to hers.

Isobel walked over to the new parents and gently placed their son in Mary's arms.

"He's perfect" Matthew whispered as he took his son's little hand in his.

"He looks just like you, so naturally he is perfect" said Mary, crying tears of joy.

"I love you so very much, both of you." He said as he leaned towards his wife for another kiss.

"I love you too my darling" she answered back.

Matthew sat on the side of the bed, next to Mary as she rested against his shoulder. The rest of the family left the room, leaving the three of them together for the first time.

* * *

_That's all for the prologue, i hope you enjoyed it. The exciting parts are yet to come though! Please favorite &amp; follow so that you don't miss the next chapters. I'd love to read your reviews too, if you have any suggestions or ideas for any of the chapters please let me know, none of the chapters are graved into stone and i can change them if i like your ideas;)_

_Chapter 1: Mary &amp; Matthew go out at night in the bad weather..._


	2. Chapter 1

_The story starts 7 months after the birth of their son. I really enjoyed writing this chapter so i hope you enjoy reading it! Please leave reviews or favorite &amp; follow to make sure you don't miss the next chapters._

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

_Mary and Matthew had been married a year, their son George was 7 months old. Matthew had decided to take Mary out for dinner for their wedding anniversary..._

Mary had picked out a burgundy dress for that night, she knew it was Matthew's favorite color on her. Anna had carefully placed a diamond head piece in Mary's hair and had made sure she looked even more beautiful than she normally did, tonight was a special night after all, Mary and Matthew were celebrating a year's marriage. They were celebrating their happiness and their love for one another.

"Thank you, Anna" she said once she was ready to head downstairs. She gave her maid an appreciative smile as she sat down at her dresser to put on some of her favorite perfume.

"You look wonderful, Milady" said the young maid before leaving the room.

Mary stared at herself in her mirror, then looked down at her wedding ring on her left hand and admired it for a few seconds. She smiled at herself and headed towards the door.

As she walked down the grand staircase, she noticed that Matthew was stood waiting for her at the bottom. She felt her cheeks flush and tried to hide the smile on her face as she walked towards him.

How could she be so perfect? He thought. Everything about her was simply perfect. Her deep brown eyes, her long dark hair, her beautiful smile, the way her cheeks turned a pale pink when she was with him, even the way she walked. So beautiful, he thought to himself.

"You look absolutely lovely tonight" he said, smiling and reaching a hand out for her to take.

"You don't look too bad yourself" she replied, mockingly. He looked quite handsome tonight… Was he wearing a new suit? She wondered.

"Shall we?" he asked as he walked towards the door.

"Oh, just a minute" she said, turning around and heading back towards the staircase, "I forgot to say goodnight to George".

She walked up the stairs and in the direction of the nursery. When she got to the door she heard Sybil talking to her daughter, Lily. She pushed the door open and smiled at her youngest sister as she walked towards the crib where George laid.

"Goodnight Darling" she whispered, taking his little fist in her hand. "Mama and Papa will be back soon" she added before kissing his forehead and turning to face her sister.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine" said Sybil reaching out to put a hand on Mary's shoulder.

"We've never left him alone before" she said feeling quite nervous.

"Don't worry, he's not alone, Nanny will take care of him and I'm here too, now go and enjoy your evening away with Matthew." Sybil said, reassuringly.

Mary nodded in appreciation and left the nursery. When she arrived downstairs, Matthew lifted her coat for her and place it on her back before putting on his own. As they stepped outside, a cold breeze hit them, it was quite a dark night too.

"It's quite cold tonight" she shivered as she lent on Matthew who instinctively put his arm around her, shielding her from the wind.

They drove out of the driveway and towards the town. Mary was feeling quite excited, it was the first time they had been out together since she had given birth to George. Not that she was complaining, he was the sweetest little boy, she loved him more than she ever thought possible. She felt so happy and so lucky to have the most perfect family. She glanced over at Matthew who seemed so handsome, she couldn't help but admire him for a while.

While keeping his eyes on the road, Matthew wondered what he had done to deserve all of this; he was happily married to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen who had given him a son, a son that he had wanted for so long. He loved them both more than words could say. He turned to look at Mary who was looking right back at him, they shared a warm smile before he turned his head back to the road.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Matthew stepped out of the car and walked around to Mary's side to open the door for her. He offered her his arm and she hooked her arm around his. They walked into the restaurant and sat down at the table that Matthew had reserved, a small isolated table in the corner of the room, by the window. The table was perfectly set, candles were lit and a bouquet of wild roses served as the centerpiece.

Mary smiled at Matthew. "This is perfect, Matthew" she said, staring into his deep blue eyes. "Thank you".

"I'm glad you like it, but I can't take all the credit… Sybil was reading the newspaper one morning and came across an advert for this new place so I came down here yesterday after luncheon and booked the table".

"Still, it was your idea" she added, still smiling, she couldn't stop smiling. He made her so happy.

"It was" he said with a small grin on his face. "It is rather nice, isn't it?" he said, looking around.

"It's lovely" she said as the waiter arrived with the menus.

They both opened the menus and ordered their food. When their last course arrived, they could hardly take another bite.

"I can't eat anymore" she said, staring down at her slice of Victoria sponge cake. "Although it does look rather delicious" she added, cutting a tiny piece and scooping it onto her fork.

"I know what you mean, the courses here are defiantly filling" he replied, raising the fork to his mouth.

As hard as it was, they both managed to finish their deserts, and decided to have one last glass of champagne before paying the bill.

"How do you think George is? I hope he hasn't missed us too much, I didn't have time to read him a bedtime story tonight" Mary asked as she was starting to miss her son.

"He'll be fine, Mary, stop worrying. He's seven months old, I doubt he'll mind going one night without a story." He answered, reaching out over the table to put his hand over hers. "By the time we get back he should be asleep anyway."

"You're right, I'm sorry" she replied, feeling quite embarrassed.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, you're allowed to be a bit worried, it's the first time we've left him" he added.

Once they finished their champagne, they decided to pay the bill and leave as it was starting to rain outside. They thanked the waiter and headed towards the door. They put on their hats and coats and walked out into the cold and rainy weather.

"Such dreadful weather!" she exclaimed, walking faster towards the car.

"It is October, my darling" he replied with a smile on his face.

"I know but honestly…".

They both jumped into the car out of the rain and they drove away from the restaurant, onto the small country roads towards Downton.

* * *

Sybil and Tom were woken by George's cries. Sybil looked at Tom and jumped out of bed and ran towards the nursery.

"What's wrong darling?" she asked the baby as she picked him up out of his crib. She had a quick look at him and understood what was wrong. A much calmer expression replaced the worried one on her face.

"What is it?" Tom asked as he stared at the baby.

"I think he may be teething, that's all. Lily started teething at this age, remember? It's really nothing to worry about." She said, in a calm voice.

"Oh it's alright" she whispered to George as she gently stroked his head, trying to sooth him, "your Mama will be home soon".

"They've been gone quite a long time haven't they?" Tom asked as he looked down at his watch.

"It's their wedding anniversary, Tom, they can stay out as long as they like. I think it's all rather romantic." She said, still trying desperately to calm her nephew down.

* * *

They were only two minutes away from Downton when the rain started to come down a lot heavier than before. There were not many stars in the sky either, everything seemed quite dark. Matthew had to squint his eyes to see the road now. The fog didn't help his sight either. The weather was awful and it was only getting worse.

"Can you still see?" Mary asked, concerned.

"Only just" he replied, sticking his head out of the window to get a better view of the road ahead.

"Shouldn't we stop? We could wait until the fog clears at least." She asked.

"Downton's only just round the corner now, we'll be able to see it soon, there's no point in stopping, besides, the fog only seems to be getting thicker." He replied, still struggling to see past the front of the car.

"Drive carefully then" she told him, even though he already seemed to be.

"Don't worry" he answered, looking over at her.

As he turned the corner, a bright light suddenly appeared in front of him, stopping him from seeing anything.

"Look ou- " Mary shouted as another car shot around the corner, forcing Matthew and Mary off the road. The sound of brakes screeching, horns beeping and screaming filled the air. Suddenly, everything went quiet.

* * *

Sybil was just about to put George (who had finally stopped crying) back in his crib when she thought she heard something that sounded like a collision coming from outside. She paused for a minute and looked at Tom.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, worried.

Tom walked out of the nursery towards the windows at the front of the house, overlooking the driveway. Sybil gently put George down and followed her husband.

"What was it?" she asked, feeling more and more concerned. "Can you see anything?"

"I don't know, it's quite foggy outside tonight, I hadn't noticed before" he replied, still looking out of the window.

"What was that noise?!" asked Edith as she hurried towards her sister and brother-in-law.

"So you heard it too then?" Sybil asked her older sister.

"Of course I did, what was it?" she asked "And where's Mary? She should be back by now surely."

"Look, over there!" Tom interrupted, pointing towards something that looked like head lights.

"Where? I can't see anything" said Sybil squinting her eyes."

"Look, just to the right of the gates, before the entrance, I can see a light shining against the trees." He said.

"You don't think there's been some sort of accident, do you?" Sybil asked her husband, concerned.

"I don't know, it could be anything, but given the circumstances; the loud noise, the bad weather and the fact that Mary and Matthew aren't back yet, I think I'll go and take a look, just to be on the safe side" he said.

"Are you sure? Do you want me to come with you?" Sybil asked looking Tom in the eyes.

"No" he said after hesitating, "you stay here, just in case something bad has happened, I wouldn't want you to see anything." He answered.

"You really shouldn't go out on your own Tom, let me come" she asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No, stay here, call for Clarkson just in case." He said before kissing his wife on the forehead and making his way downstairs.

* * *

Mary slowly started to open her eyes. What had happened? Where was she? A second later she realized what had happened. She looked around, still not moving or making a sound. Everything was blurred. Although she was hurting all over, she could feel an excruciating pain in her legs. She looked down at them and to her horror, she saw that the car had landed on top of her them. Her eyes opened wider, she screamed in pain. She tried moving out from under the car but she couldn't move her legs and the car was far too heavy. She could see blood stains on her stockings, everything was still blurred. She lifted a hand to her head that was hurting quite badly too. As she pulled her hand away she noticed blood on her gloves. She was getting more and more worried. But suddenly, one thought came to her head. Matthew. Where was he? Where was he?! She couldn't see him. She looked around but she couldn't see him anywhere.

"Matthew" she whispered quietly, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. "Matthew!" she shouted, this time a lot louder. "Matthew, Matthew?! Arggh!" she screamed out in pain again. She could feel her heart beating a lot faster now. She needed to know where he was. She had to know if he was hurt… or worse. She had to be strong. It took all the strength she had left in her body, but she managed to sit up so she could have a better look around. As she sat up, another bolt of pain ran through her legs. "Oh god!" she cried. "Matthew! Matth-"

As she turned her head, she saw something. She looked back again. Matthew, she thought. All she could see was a body laid in the middle of the road, motionless. She felt sick, physically sick. "Oh please god no!" she shouted. "Matthew! Please, just move" she screamed at him. "Matthew…" She could hardly talk now from crying. She burst in to tears and shouted his name over and over again.

As Matthew slowly regained consciousness, he didn't know where he was or what he was doing. All he knew was that everything hurt. He couldn't move, what on earth had happened? He could hear shouting in the distance but he couldn't make out who it was coming from and what they were saying. Everything sounded blurred. Suddenly he heard it. Mary's voice. She was calling his name, she sounded terrified.

"Mary?" he asked, carefully turning his head in the direction her voice was coming from.

"Matthew, can you hear me?" she asked, seeing his head move slightly.

"Mary! Where are you? Are you okay?!" he shouted back.

"Matthew, thank god." She said, relieved he was alive. "Matthew, can you move? I need help Matthew!" she shouted back, her voice shaky.

Matthew instinctively tried to jump. "Oh god." He said to himself, putting one hand on his back that was causing him the most pain. He limped over to where the car was lying on its side, just off of the road. When he saw that Mary was trapped underneath it, he ran towards her and kneeled down beside her, taking her head in his hands and kissing her over and over.

"God Matthew, I'm scared, my legs, they hurt so much" she said, sounding almost breathless.

"It'll be alright my darling, you'll be alright. I'm going to get you out of this and we'll get you back to Downton and you will sleep in your own bed tonight. You'll be nice and warm. I promise" he told her, trying to reassure himself as much as he was her.

"Matthew, I can hardly feel my legs anymore, I- I can't seem to – to breath very well either…" she said, her eyes opening and closing as she spoke.

"Mary, my darling, I'm going to try and move the car away from your legs, I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that?" he asked, trying to keep calm for her sake.

"Please hurry, I don't know how much more – how much more I can – can take." She replied, feeling tired and confused.

Without wasting any time, he moved over to where the car was resting on top of her legs. He placed his hands on the car and pushed as hard as he could. As he did, Mary screamed in pain. He couldn't get the car to move. He tried again, not wanting to give up. He wasn't strong enough alone but he couldn't leave her by herself, not now. As he turned to face her, he got a glimpse of her legs and swallowed when he saw that they were covered in blood.

"I'm so sorry my darling, this is all my fault." He said, looking into her eyes.

"It's not... your fault." She said taking a deep breath, holding back her tears.

"Mary, can you move your legs at all?" he asked, wanting to get her back to Downton as soon as possible, he didn't know how much longer she would live.

"I can't. I can hardly feel them…" she replied. "I'm cold Matthew, I'm so cold." She said, shivering.

"It's okay, my darling, somebody will notice that we haven't returned and they will come looking for us. Knowing your mama, she will have the whole village out looking for us" he said, trying to make her smile. Her lips were turning blue so he took his evening coat off and put it around her, before moving back closer to her, supporting her back and trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

"Matthew, if- if I don't make it, look after George and talk of me often to him." She said, bursting into tears, realizing that she may never see her son again.

"Mary, don't talk like that, you'll be fine, doctor Clarkson will take good care of you. You may have to stay in bed for a couple of weeks but nothing is going to happen to you. I promise you I won't let that happen. Do you hear me my darling?!" he said, stroking her head. "You'll be just fine"... he hoped.

* * *

_That's all for chapter 1! Please leave reviews and tell me what you think, suggestions &amp; ideas are welcome:)_

_I know it was quite a short chapter but i wanted to leave it on a sort of "cliffhanger" if you know what i mean... i know i'm mean, but i couldn't resist, hopefully, i will be posting chapter 2 later this week._

_Thanks for reading:)x_


	3. Chapter 2

_Thankyou so much for reading the first chapters of this story. I'm really happy with how many people have read it and thanks for the nice reviews! Made my day. __I'm sorry for leaving you on a cliffhanger last time, but i have to make it interessting! _

_What happened at the end of the last chapter: _

_"Matthew, if- if I don't make it, look after George and talk of me often to him." She said, bursting into tears, realizing that she may never see her baby boy again._

_"Mary, don't talk like that, you'll be fine, doctor Clarkson will take good care of you. You may have to stay in bed for a couple of weeks but nothing is going to happen to you. I promise that I won't let that happen. Do you hear me my darling?!" he said, stroking her head. "You'll be just fine"… he hoped._

_I hope you enjoy it!x_

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

As the headlights got closer and brighter, Tom began to hear voices, voices that he recognized all too well. Straight away he knew something bad must have happened to Mary and Matthew. He instinctively began running, faster and faster until he could see the car laid on its side, just by the road.

"Matthew!" he shouted, looking around for him.

"Is that Tom?" Mary asked, looking up at Matthew, hardly able to keep her eyes open.

"You know, I think it is! Mary, my darling, I told you they'd come looking for us" he replied, stroking her head and trying to keep her awake.

"Tom!" Matthew shouted as loud as he could. "Quick, Mary needs help!"

Having heard where the voices were coming from, Tom ran to the back of the car where he saw the horrible sight. Oh god, he thought to himself. How had this happened?!

"God, Matthew, what happened?!" he asked in horror.

"I'll explain later, help me get this car off of Mary's legs!" he exclaimed before kissing Mary's forehead and gently lying her back on the ground. "Be strong my darling" he told her before getting up. As he walked over to the car, he felt the pain in his back again, but not wanting to say anything, he joined Tom and the two of them pushed as hard as they could but the car hardly moved.

"Push harder!" shouted Matthew, determined to free Mary's legs.

"Right, after three. One, two…. Three, push!" said Tom, sweat dropping from his forehead.

Both Matthew and Tom were exhausted, Matthew's arms and legs were both shaking from either trying to push the car or from the traumatic accident that they had just had, he didn't know which but he knew he didn't feel too good.

"Mary?" Tom asked, sounding a little worried as he turned around and caught a glimpse of his sister-in-law who had closed her eyes.

"What is it?" Matthew asked Tom before turning to Mary who had gone completely pale.

"Oh god, no, no, no, Mary, Mary my darling, wake up! Please wake up!" he shouted as he ran over to his wife and started shaking her, gently at first and then more and more violently.

Oh god, Tom whispered to himself. What was happening? "I'll run back to the house, I'll get a car and a rope, we may not be strong enough to pull the weight of a car but another car certainly will be". He said, trying to think.

"Go quickly, I don't know how much more she can take!" he shouted after Tom who had already set off running back to the abbey.

By this time, Mary was oblivious to everything that was going on around her, she was drifting in and out of consciousness, her body felt cold and even though she knew that Matthew was talking to her, she couldn't make out what he was saying, he just sounded to be mumbling. She couldn't hear Tom anymore and she didn't know where he had gone. She felt a tear run down her face, but apart from that she couldn't really feel anything, not much anyway.

Matthew couldn't understand why this was happening, everything had been so perfect up until earlier on when that other car drove them off the road. He hadn't even stopped! Suddenly, Matthew felt angry, his wife was lying in his arms, on the side of a road on a cold night, maybe…dying… and that man hadn't even stopped to see if they were okay. Who could even do such a thing? He wanted to hurt him just had much as he had hurt them. But then he heard a quiet voice.

"Matthew?" Mary seemed unconscious but she still knew he was with her. That made him smile.

"Mary, I'm here, I'm not leaving you, hang on just a while longer. Tom has gone for help, he should be back very soon" he tried to reassure her.

"I love, I love y-" she said without finishing her sentence, at this point her grip on his hand seems to weaken.

"Mary, stay awake, my darling, don't go to sleep." Matthew was getting more and more worried, he wanted to cry but he had to be strong for her. But how could he keep her awake? He thought for a moment. "Think of George, Mary, think of George, he'll want you to read him a story tomorrow night, you can't not read him a story two nights in a row now can you?" he said.

"George" she whispered, tears running down her face. She could just picture George in his crib, alone. She couldn't leave him, he needed her. She knew she had to stay awake for his sake. She fought as hard as she could.

* * *

Tom arrived back at Downton, out of breath, sweat dripping from his face. Sybil, who had watched him running up the driveway from the window had made her way to the front doors.

"Goodness, Tom, what is it? What's happened?!" she asked, concerned after seeing the state he was in.

"Call for an ambulance, now!" he ordered without stopping.

"But what's happened?! Where are you going?!" she shouted after him, sounding more worried than before.

"Mary and Matthew have had an accident, Mary needs help, I can't stop I need to get back to them as quickly as possible!" he shouted back.

Sybil felt faint all of a sudden, she walked back in to the house without saying a word, a blank expression on her face as she walked towards the telephone.

"Sybil, whatever's the matter? Wasn't that Tom outside?" asked Edith, starting to feel rather worried now.

"They've been in an accident. Mary's hurt." Was all she said, sounding calm, picking up the phone.

Edith couldn't understand, she ran outside to see If Tom was about, but as she looked around, she noticed him driving back to where he had just come from in a car.

"Hello, we need an ambulance at Downton…" Edith overheard her younger sister on the telephone. An ambulance? She thought. She didn't often worry about her older sister but this time she couldn't help it. Why not Clarkson? It must be terribly bad if they need an ambulance.

Having heard all the noise, Robert and Cora made their way downstairs to find out what was going on.

"Edith, Sybil darlings" said a sleepy Cora. "Why are you down here at this time of night? Where are Mary and Matthew?" she asked.

Seeing the tears in his youngest daughter's eyes, Robert walked over to Sybil and asked again. "Sybil, dear, what's the matter?"

"Oh papa, Tom and I, we heard a noise earlier, that sounded like a collision of some sort, coming from outside. Tom went to see if he could find out what it wa-" she burst out in tears, not able to finish her sentence.

"Edith?" asked Cora, wide eyed, who was starting to realize the seriousness of the situation.

"Tom, he just came back and… he said that Mary and Matthew had been involved in some sort of accident… I- I think that maybe, Mary has been injure-" But she was cut off by Sybil before she could say anymore.

"Tom told me to call for an ambulance…" she said, having caught her breath.

"Oh my dear!" said Cora, sitting down on the closest chair.

"Where is this?" asked Robert, concerned for his eldest daughter. But he noticed that his two youngest daughters were quite unable to say anymore.

* * *

Tom had just arrived back at the horrible scene in the car.

"Matthew, how is she?" he shouted whilst running towards the car and tying the rope to the front of it before attaching it to the back of the other vehicle.

"Not good, she needs help Tom!" he shouted back.

"Stand by her and shout if anything moves or happens!" Tom shouted back at Matthew who clearly looked distraught.

He got back into the car and started the engine as Matthew stood by his own and waited for something to happen. To his relief, when Tom had started to move, the car started to move. Mary screamed out in pain, she didn't think she could take anymore, but she just kept thinking about her baby son.

Her legs were nearly free and Matthew nearly fainted when he saw the state they were in. Her skin colored stocking were now a deep shade of red. Mary couldn't take it anymore and passed out from the pain.

"Tom, stop! You've done it" he said as he rushed to Mary's side and scooped her up of the floor. "Everything is going to be okay now, I promise" he whispered into her ear before hurrying towards the car. Tom opened the back door for them and Matthew jumped in and laid Mary down on the backseat, her head resting on his lap.

"How is she?" Tom asked as he turned around and caught a glimpse of her bloodied legs.

"Tom, please just keep driving, we've got to get her back to Downton as soon as possible." He answered. "Mary, stay with me my darling, be strong" he whispered.

A minute later they arrived at Downton, Tom drove right up to the front doors and slammed the brakes on, causing the car to skid a little. Tom dived out of the car and opened the door for Matthew.

Having heard the car arrive, the others rushed out of the house to see how Mary was but before they could, Tom advised the ladies to go back inside and wait until she was cleaned up first.

"You won't want to see her like this. Please, go back inside, let Matthew bring her in" he said guiding them towards the library. Cora and Edith entered the library and listened to Tom but Sybil refused to leave her sister.

"I won't leave her, Tom, I won't." she said stubbornly.

"Sybil, love, please" he said but it was too late, Matthew had carried her to the front door and Sybil who had just caught a glimpse of her sister, took a deep breath and swallowed.

Sybil had nursed more soldiers than she could count during the war, she had seen men with arms and legs missing, with their faces half blown off, she had seen men covered in sick and blood, but nothing, nothing compared to this. This was her eldest sister, her darling sister, she looked half dead in Matthew's arms… covered in bruises and her own blood. Nothing could have prepared her for this. She was speechless, she felt so helpless. While she had been in the comfort of her own bed with her husband, Mary and Matthew had gone through this. She didn't want to know how it had happened or why, she just wanted to make sure that her sister was going to survive the terrible accident.

"My god!" shouted Robert as Matthew ran passed him with Mary in his arms. "What on earth happened?!" he asked louder. Starting to shake, he squeezed his eyes shut and wiped his hand over his eyes. God… he thought to himself.

Matthew completely ignored them all and focused on Mary. He ran through the hall into the drawing room and carefully laid her down on the couch by the fire. The others followed him through and found him kneeing down by her side.

"Where's the ambulance?!" he asked, beginning to get inpatient.

"Is anything the matter my lor-" Carson began asked he walked into the drawing room, also been woken by all the noise. "Oh lord!" he exclaimed when he saw Mary lying on the couch.

"Carson, will you please go find out where on earth the ambulance has got to?!" Robert asked the older butler, who did immediately what he was told.

"Of course my lord" he answered before walking out of the room.

"There's no need, they've arrived" said Edith as she popped her head round the door.

Hearing the good news, Matthew picked Mary up and carried her outside and on to the ambulance stretcher. "I'm going with her" he said immediately, not going to take no for an answer.

"I'll bring the others down once we're all dressed" shouted Tom as Matthew got into the ambulance with his wife.

As the ambulance drove off, the rest of the family rushed to their rooms to get changed out of their nightclothes. Having been woken by Carson, the servants hurried upstairs to help the family dress. Carson took Anna to one side.

"What's going on Mr Carson?" she asked, confused as to why she had been woken up at this time. After all, by now it was already the early hours of the morning.

"Anna, I'm afraid I have some rather bad news…" he began "Lady Mary and Mr. Matthew have been involved in a serious accident… It seems Lady Mary is very seriously injured" he said, seeing the expression on the young maid's face, he put a hand on her shoulder and tried to reassure her.

"Oh, I see… And how is Mr. Matthew?" she asked, turning quite pale.

"I believe he had a lucky escape, he has a few cuts and bruises, but Lady Mary, on the other hand wasn't so lucky." He swallowed and straightened his composure before carrying on with his duties, leaving Anna to tend to her own.

Meanwhile, everybody upstairs was nearly ready. Anna had just walked out of Edith's bedroom and she was about to walk past the nursery when she heard George crying. She entered the room and walked over to him.

"It's alright, Master George, I'm sure your mama will be quite alright." She said softly, trying to calm the little boy. "But you must be quiet now and get some sleep or you'll wake your cousin" she added, smiling at him and walking out of the room.

"Oh milady, I'm sorry, I was just-" she said, bumping into Sybil on her way out.

"It's perfectly alright, no need to apologize! In fact, would you mind keeping an eye on then until Nanny Hulmes arrives?" she asked.

"Of course, milady and I just wanted to say, that my thoughts are with you all" said the young lady's maid, shyly.

"Thank you Anna" replied Sybil before heading downstairs to join her family.

* * *

At the hospital, the surgeons had taken Mary into theater as soon as they had arrived. Despite the fact that Matthew felt fine, the doctors insisted on examining him.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" they asked him as he laid down on the hospital bed.

"Not really, I did have this thing with my back though. During the war I severely bruised my spine and I lost the use of my legs for a while. I had a little bit of pain in it earlier…" he said quietly.

Having listened to what he had to say, they examined him and told him that he had knocked the bruise on his spine which had caused it to hurt again. They prescribed him some painkillers and recommended he take it easy for a while.

"I'm not very bothered about myself at the minute" he began "my wife was brought it about half an hour ago and taken into surgery, is there any news?" he asked nervously.

"Lady Mary Crawley?" they asked, checking their list.

"Yes, that's right, we were involved in a car crash and her legs were badly damaged" he replied.

"I'll see what I can do" they told him before walking out of his room.

"Thank you" he said. He'd never felt more alone than he did now.

He heard familiar voices as the rest of the family arrived and walked straight towards him. It had been such a long day, he didn't want to answer any more questions, he just wanted to know how Mary was.

"How is she? What's happening?" Cora asked her son-in-law as she moved to his side.

"I really don't know, they took her into theater and-"

"Theater?!" Robert asked shocked. "Is it really that bad?"

"I think so…" Matthew said, frowning and lifting a head to his head.

"And when are you planning on telling us what happened? You weren't driving too fast were you, because if you were, and you caused this-" Robert began, sounding quite angry.

"Papa, leave Matthew alone, he would never do anything to hurt Mary, let him speak" said Sybil, smiling at her brother-in-law.

"I don't know what to say…" he said. "I can't seem to remember everything, it all happened so fast" he said, not feeling too good.

Seeing how pale he looked, the doctor came over and asked the family to wait outside of the room to give him some space. Matthew couldn't have been more grateful at this point. He felt quite sick, maybe he was just worried, he thought.

"Are you alright, sir?" he asked him.

"I feel rather sick, but apart from that, I'm quite alright but, I wonder if you have any information about my wife, Lady Mary Crawley?" he asked, not worried about himself, only about Mary.

"I believe she is still in theater, her legs have been quite badly damaged… they are most defiantly fractured, but the fact that she has lost so much blood is far more serious; she also has a deep wound on her head. It's not looking too good at the moment I'm afraid to say" he said, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. "If she makes it through the operation, she will have got through the worst…" he said, not knowing what else he could say.

* * *

End of chapter 2. Sorry again for not revealing if Mary is going to live or not... I promise you'll find out in the next chapter that i should be posting some time next week. Please keep reading &amp; please leave reviews, they make my day and help me to write the next chapters.. you can give me suggestions or ideas for other chapters too if you want. Reviews inspire me to write quicker too;)

Thanks again for reading :)x


	4. Chapter 3

_Thank you for your reviews! I love recieving them, they make my day. Your reviews really do help me &amp; inspire me._

_What happened at end of chapter 2:_

_"I believe she is still in theater, her legs have been quite badly damaged… they are most defiantly fractured, but the fact that she has lost so much blood is far more serious; she also has a deep wound on her head. It's not looking too good at the moment I'm afraid to say" he said, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. "If she makes it through the operation, she will have got through the worst…" he said, not knowing what else he could say._

_I hope you enjoy it:)x_

* * *

**Chapter** **3:**

Mary had survived the operation and was being taken to a bed in the hospital. Matthew was at the other side of the hospital to her. Mary still hadn't regained consciousness. The last thing she knew, she was lying on the side of the road, with Matthew by her side.

Three hours had passed since they had taken Mary away from him. Why was there still no news, he thought… He was glad the rest of the family had gone home for the time being – until he had any news of Mary, anyway.

Just then, Matthew was distracted by a doctor who was walking his way. Matthew knew that it was to do with Mary. Had she survived? He thought. God, please let her be alive… He felt his heart beating a lot faster in his chest now.

"Mr. Crawley, I have news, concerning your wife – Lady Mary" he said, no expression whatsoever on his face.

Matthew held his breath for a second. The only word he wanted to hear was 'alive', that's all he wanted – to know that she had survived.

"She has come through the operation." He said, causing Matthew to let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god" he whispered. She was alive.

"She may have got through the operation, but she still has a long way to go yet…" he began, "we have managed to save her legs, she has numerous stiches in both and we have secured the fractures, both her legs are in plaster. Her head wound has also been treated and stitched, she has no internal bleeding, which is a good sign." The doctor told Matthew.

Having heard all of this, he took a deep breath and swallowed "god… Robert's right, this is my fault… Is she awake now? Can I see her?" he asked, wanting to visit her as soon as possible.

"You may see her, but she isn't awake, we are keeping her under observation, but I'm afraid for now, that is all we know." He replied, putting a reassuring smile on his face.

* * *

"Oh god!" he exclaimed, seeing her lying there, on the hospital bed, her legs tightly strapped up. He slowly walked over to the chair by her bed and took a seat. After hesitating, he took her hand in his and pressed a kiss on the back of it. He lifted his other hand to her forehead and very, very gently, stroked over her wound, held together by several stitches.

"Mary, my darling, can you hear me?" he whispered close to her ear. To this she did not respond, she didn't even move. How could this be, he wondered. Underneath all that plaster, she looked so perfect, as if she was going to wake up any second. He lifted his hand off of her head and wiped his eyes that he had squinted together to stop any tears from rolling down his face.

"Would you like me to telephone your family, at Downton, sir? Now that she is back in a bed." The young nurse asked him.

"Urm… yes, I suppose I should let them know that she has survived the operation…" he said, giving the nurse an appreciative smile.

"I'll see to it right away sir" she added before walking off.

"Thank you" he muttered, watching her walking away. He didn't really want to see anybody at the minute and he definitely didn't want Robert and the Dowager Countess asking him question after question – and then there was his mother… He knew that they would want to know, and that they had a right to know but he really just wanted to be alone with Mary. He just wished he could wake up and find that all this had just been one big nightmare.

He turned his attention back to Mary and just stared at her for a while. She was so beautiful. What had he done? He despised himself for having put her in this situation. Why didn't he stop the car when she told him to? Why hadn't he listened to her? All these questions just kept on spinning round in his head. He leaned over and gently kissed her forehead, slowly running his fingers through her thick brown hair that was now hanging down, over her shoulders and around her face.

"Mary, if you can hear me, my darling, please give me a sign… anything, I just need to know that you can hear me and that you're going to be alright, because I need you to come back to me, I don't know what I would do if you didn't, but I'm not going to think that way and neither should you. The doctor has told me that you have come through the worst now. You are so strong, my darling and you must continue to be so. Please wake up, I- " but before he could finish his sentence, Cora, Sybil and Edith walked up to him.

"How is she, Matthew?" Cora asked her son-in-law.

"She hasn't woken up yet, I have been talking to her just in case she can hear me, but I'm not too sure that she can…" he said, not taking his eyes of his wife.

"That's a lovely idea, I'm sure she can hear you. You must keep talking to her." Sybil said as she rested a hand on Matthew shoulder and looked down at her eldest sister.

"Where are Robert and Tom? Have you told my mother? I'm afraid she might be worried…" he asked, looking up at Cora.

"Isobel said that she would visit you later on today and she sends her love. Robert and Tom thought it best that they give you some space, I'm afraid Robert is taking this quite hard." She replied with a sad expression on her face.

"We all are" Edith added.

Cora walked around to the other side of Mary's bed and stroked her daughter's head. "Be strong, darling" she whispered, tears starting to drop from her eyes.

"Matthew would you come back to Downton with us and have a rest, you look exhausted and- "

"I won't leave Mary" he said stubbornly. "She didn't leave me when I was wounded during the war, so I'm not leaving her now, she needs me."

"Very well" said Sybil, "but you must promise to get some rest." She added, looking Matthew in the eyes.

Matthew only nodded and turned back to face Mary.

"I have to ask, Matthew, how did this happen?" Cora asked, curiously.

Matthew knew that he would have to talk about it at some point, so he lifted his hand and rubbed his forehead, wondering what to say.

"We were – we were nearly back at Downton…" he began, squeezing his eyes shut as if that would help him to remember. "It was dark and the rain had started to fall a lot faster and heavier and there was a thick fog… As we were turning the corner, another car came round on the wrong side of the road and…" Matthew took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Mama, we really shouldn't be asking him about this so soon afterwards" Sybil interrupted.

"No, it's alright, I will have to tell you some time, I'd rather get it out of the way…" he replied. "The other car's headlights were rather bright and for a moment I couldn't see anything… I must have turned to avoid hitting the car, but then – then everything seemed to happen so fast and… and the next thing I remember was…" he took another deep breath at this point before continuing "I was lying in the middle of the road and, oh god, I could hear Mary screaming, and then I found her…" tears were rolling down his cheeks now and he clung on to Mary's hand as tight as he could.

"I, I don't know what to say…" was Cora's only reaction. The two sisters who had been listening were now both in tears.

"It all sounds so dreadful" said Sybil, trying to catch her breath.

* * *

As the day went by, the four of them took it in turns sitting by Mary and talking to her, but she never moved, nor responded to them. The three women were starting to get tired so they decided to leave as Isobel would be arriving soon.

"Goodbye my beautiful girl" said Cora as she leant down to kiss her daughter's cheek. "Goodbye Matthew, and thank you, for staying with her and being there for here…"

"She needs me and I won't leave her side until I know that she will be okay." He said in a reassuring voice.

Cora smiled at him, she was proud to call him her son-in-law.

"Would you mind terribly if I came back to the hospital to see her again tomorrow?" Sybil asked Matthew.

"Of course not, she's your sister, come whenever you like." He replied.

With that, the three of them turned around and headed towards the door.

"Oh, and Sybil" he began "would you bring George along with you tomorrow?" he asked.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea" said Cora. "Mary wouldn't want him to see her looking like this".

"I have thought about it and I think that he should be here. If Mary could hear him, I know that she would fight, it would give her a reason to. It was the thought of him that kept her alive, please bring him." He asked again, hoping he had persuaded them.

"You're right, I'll bring him with me." Sybil replied with a smile on her face.

"Thank you" he answered before turning back to Mary. He rubbed his finger over her cheek and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Did you hear that? Sybil is going to bring George along with her tomorrow. You will have to wake up then, I know that he will want a cuddle from his mama." He whispered.

* * *

Matthew had been sat with her all day, Isobel had visited and now it was just the two of them again. He felt tired but he didn't want to leave her alone, but he soon drifted off on the chair he was sat on. To his surprise, when he woke up, it was already morning. For a minute he forget where he was but then, looking around him, he remembered. As soon as he did, he looked down at Mary and made sure she was still with him.

"Mary?" he asked, wondering if she had regained consciousness while he slept, but still no answer came from her. He sighed as he lent forward and rested his hands on the bed, near her. "Sybil will be here shortly…" he told her. "…with George".

Later on, Sybil and Tom arrived with George.

"How is she today?" asked Tom as he gently handed Matthew his son.

"The same. She still hasn't woken up…" he replied, turning his attention to his son. "Hello, and how are you today?" he asked his son before wrapping his arms around him and cuddling him.

"He has been teething quite a lot lately, haven't you?" she said, taking her nephew's hand in hers and smiling.

"Has he been keeping you awake?" he asked them.

"At first he did but Nanny stayed with him last night and took care of him." Sybil answered.

Matthew sighed again "We should be there for him" he said looking over at Mary.

Sybil smiled a sad smile and walked around to her sister's side. "Hello darling" she said. "You must promise to wake up soon, Edith is getting rather worried about you which seems rather strange." She joked. "We miss you Mary, and Matthew and George need you, I need you too."

"Sybil, we must be leaving now" Tom told her.

"You've only just arrived" said Matthew.

"I know, but we wanted to give the three of you some time alone." Sybil said, smiling at her brother-in-law before kissing Mary's cheek.

"Thank you" he said whilst trying to keep George still on his knees. "I'll let you know if anything happens" he added.

"See you later" Sybil said before leaving the room.

"Mary, George is here and he is getting quite agitated, I think he wants you." He said, turning back to her. "Sybil said that he has started teething, he's growing up too quickly!" he said, smiling. "Please wake up Mary, I can't do this without you. I can't you lose you, not now."

George wouldn't keep still on Matthew knee and he kept making the sweetest little noises. Matthew looked down at his son, he was still so young, he couldn't lose his mama. All of a sudden George began to cry. Matthew tried rocking him and talking to him but he couldn't get him to calm down.

"Shhh, it's alright my boy" Matthew whispered. "Your mama is sleeping and you don't want to wake her, now do you?" he said, desperately trying to stop him from crying.

Seeing his mother lying there, George wanted nothing more than for her to wake up and give him a cuddle. He couldn't understand why she wasn't waking up. This made him cry even more. He reached out for her but he couldn't get to her. Matthew sat George on the edge of the bed with Mary, without letting go of him. George moved closer to his mama and touched her hand with his tiny fingers. Matthew knew Mary had to wake up now, George couldn't be left without a mother, that just wasn't an option.

"Mary, George wants you to cuddle him, you must wake up my darling." He whispered. He took her hand in his. He watched as his son cuddled up to her. It was braking his heart. George had calmed down now but he was still making gurgling noises. Matthew sighed… If George couldn't wake her up, then what could? He watched as George climbed over Mary's arm and moved closer to her head. He took his tiny hand and put it on Mary's face.

"George, be gentle" Matthew told him, not wanting him to hurt her. With his other hand, Matthew reached out to lift George off of Mary, but suddenly, as he bent over, he felt her fingers move in his hand. He froze for a second before looking down at her hand that he held in his. Her fingers were moving; she was moving! "Mary?!" he asked, as he stood up, leaning over her.

He lifted George off the bed and into his arms and watched Mary, impatiently wanting her to move, or to open her eyes. Just then he saw her lips move and she spoke.

"Matthew" she whispered, hardly loud enough for him to hear.

"Mary, Mary my darling, I'm here, I'm right here!" he said taking her hand back in his. His heart was beating so fast, he didn't know what to expect.

Mary's eyes slowly began to open, but then she began to panic.

"Where am I?! What happened? Matthew, Matthew!" she shouted as she tried to sit up, tears running down her face, her breathing getting increasingly faster.

"Shh, my darling, you're safe" he said, trying to calm her down. "You're safe, you're in hospital, everything's alright now, you're going to be okay" he whispered.

"In hospital? But wha-" suddenly remembering everything that had happened, she looked over at Matthew, a scared expression on her face.

"After the accident, you lost consciousness and the ambulance brought you here. You were immediately operated on, you're legs have been stitched up." He told her, trying to reassure her. "The doctors think that you're going to be just fine now" he continued "you're going to be just fine…"

"My head hurts" she said, lifting a hand to her cut. "What?" she asked as she felt the stitches.

"You must have cut your head open as you fell, they have stitched that up too, but they said that you don't have any internal bleeding" he said. "Everything is going to be alright now, you had me so worried Mary".

She starred him in the eyes before leaning towards him, he took her in his arms, George in between them. "I love you Matthew" she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry".

"You have nothing at all to be sorry about, it's my fault, not yours!" he said, pulling her back so that he could look her in the eyes. She nodded back at him and bit her lip.

George looked up at her, tears in his own eyes and reached out for her.

"George, my darling" she said, taking him from Matthew's arms. "I love you so very much" she whispered as she hugged him tighter.

Matthew was overwhelmed, he couldn't have felt happier. He was starting to think that she wouldn't wake up, and now she had and she was okay.

"I'll go get the doctor" he said before pressing a tender kiss to her lips and walking out of the room.

"My darling George, I promise to never leave you again, I promise." She whispered to her son before kissing his forehead over and over again.

* * *

_End of chapter 3._

_Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave your reviews. Because i recieved a few nice reviews yesterday, I decided to write and post chapter 3 today. Thank you for your suggestions too, I used them in this chapter, so don't hesitate to leave more:)_

_I haven't thought much about chapter 4 yet, so if you have any ideas, please send me them:) I'll post chapter 4 sometime next week._

_Thanks again!x_


	5. Chapter 4

_Finally finished chapter 4. Please R&amp;R. Reviews make my day and I always take into consideration everything you say and it honestly helps me with my writing._

_What happened at the end of chapter 3:_

_Matthew was overwhelmed, he couldn't have felt happier. He was starting to think that she wouldn't wake up, and now she had and she was okay._

_"I'll go get the doctor" he said before pressing a tender kiss to her lips and walking out of the room._

_"My darling George, I promise to never leave you again, I promise." She whispered to her son before kissing his forehead over and over again._

_Hope you enjoy it!x_

* * *

**Chapter**** 4:**

_Three months had pasted since the accident, Mary was out of her wheelchair and was slowly starting to walk again, with the help of her walking stick, and Matthew._

_ George is now 10 months old and he is crawling and learning to walk too, but he is having a little trouble finding his balance yet._

"Wait a minute, let me help you get up!" Matthew said quickly as Mary tried to get off the couch and stand up.

"Oh Matthew, I'm not a child" she said harshly, staring up at her husband.

"I know, but your legs aren't as strong as they were before, so until you rebuild your strength, I'll be here to help you. Now lean on me." He said, smiling down at her.

With a sigh and a little help from Matthew, she stood up, using her stick for extra support. The two of them were now stood face to face in front of the warm fire, Mary looked up into his eyes and smiled, Matthew did the same. Without saying a word, Mary leaned towards him and pressed a tender and warm kiss to his lips which unbalanced her slightly, causing her to fall into Matthew's arms. He held her firmly and kissed her back. Mary smiled against him lips, feeling secure and safe in his strong arms, she didn't want him to ever let go.

Pulling back a little, she looked him in the eyes. "The situation has changed a little bit hasn't it?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he replied, a little confused.

"During the war, you were injured and I helped you to walk again, now just look at me, barely able to stand up without your help." She said before kissing him again.

"We must be made for each other then." He replied, grinning at his wife.

"You're right, we must be" she said, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her.

"I will look after you and be there for you as long as you need me, I'm not going anywhere, darling because during the war, you looked after me better than any nurse could have." He said. "You were my stick." He whispered in her ear.

Feeling his breath so close to her made her feel so warm inside, she loved him more than she had ever loved before. "And you are mine" she whispered back.

Hearing the door open, Mary pulled away from Matthew, leaving him feeling rather cold. "Oh, I'm sorry Milady, Mr. Crawley" said the nanny as she walked in with George in her arms. Seeing Mary and Matthew together made her blush a little, making her feel quite embarrassed.

"It's quite alright" Mary said, smiling at the nanny who walked over to her and handed George to Matthew.

"Hello!" Matthew said enthusiastically, taking his son into his arms.

"If that's all Milady, I'll take Miss Lily for her walk now" she said, her cheeks turning a little paler.

"Yes, that's all, thank you nanny" Mary said before turning her attention to her son who was babbling away at Matthew.

"Hello my darling!" Mary said, smiling at her son and taking his hand in hers. "Why don't we go on a walk later? Just the three of us?" she suggested.

"Mary, I'm not sure you'll be able to walk very far given the circumstances" Matthew said, looking down at her walking stick.

"Only a small walk, down to the pond, that isn't very far, I can manage that surely. I'm not an invalid just yet, Matthew." She said whilst smiling at George, causing him to giggle.

"If you're sure then, would you like that George?" Matthew asked his son, who hadn't stopped giggling.

"He'll enjoy it. When I was young, I used to love running down to the pond to feed the ducks… The only difference is, I was usually chased by our governess and shouted at to come back and finish my piano lessons." She said, smiling mischievously as she remember everything she had got up to during her childhood.

Matthew smiled fondly at her before kissing her on the cheek. "You were quite the rebel my darling."

Staring at him up and down from head to toe, she smiled again, her eyes sparkling in amusement, "Oh Matthew, you have no idea!"

* * *

"Do you think it's warm enough?" Mary asked, suddenly shivering as they stepped outside into the fresh air, "it looks like it could snow" she added, looking up at the white sky.

"We're all wrapped up and besides if it does snow, it will be the first time since George was born, it could be rather exciting." Matthew said, pulling his coat a little tighter and fastening the top button.

"If you say so" she replied, smiling at him.

"I do" he answered. "We're going to have a good time aren't we George? And if it does snow, I'll teach you how to throw a snowball" he told his son who didn't really understand what they were talking about.

"Not at me, I hope!" Mary interrupted.

"Of course not my darling" he answered before offering her his arm and walking slowly down the path.

"Oh, the lake is frozen!" Mary said as they turned the corner and saw the icy lake. "Never mind, we can simply walk around it and then head back" Matthew said, always having an answer for everything. "How do you feel?" he asked, referring to her legs.

"Rather tired but-" she was interrupted by George's laughter. He was pointing at the ducks that were skidding along the ice and flying away. Seeing him so amused, Mary and Matthew joined in and started laughing with him.

"They're ducks" Matthew whispered to his son whilst watching him with fascination. George carried on giggling and reaching out for the birds.

"You can't join them, George" Mary told him. "You mustn't walk on frozen ice, it's dangerous. We wouldn't want you to fall through it now would we?" she asked before lifting a hand to stroke his hair.

Matthew smiled at Mary and they continued their walk around the large pond. Just as they were about to head back to Downton, little snowflakes began to fall from the sky. "I told you it would snow" Mary said, turning to face Matthew. "And you were right" he answered, smiling at her as she moved closer to him and put her arm around his back. "Look George, it's snowing!" he told his son as he pointed to a snowflake that had landed on his black sleeve.

George stared up at the sky, fascinated by all the little white things that were falling from it. He reached his hand out to try to catch one. Mary watched her son, she felt so proud of him. He really was the sweetest little boy.

"I love how he is so excited about everything." Mary said, turning her attention back to Matthew.

"He's growing up quickly, soon he'll be able to run around in the snow with Lily." He said, staring at his son. "And maybe one day, he will have a brother or sister to play with too". He added, looking Mary in the eye.

"Don't sound so unsure, of course he will have brothers and sisters, I need to concentrate on walking properly first though." She replied, smiling back at Matthew.

"So you do want other children? Because, I would love nothing more than to have more children just like George". He asked as he stopped walking and turned to face Mary.

"Matthew my darling, I want nothing more than to have more children with you. If they turn out like George then I'll be the happiest person alive." She told him, taking his spare hand in hers. "I love you Matthew and you and George have made me so very happy, I don't know what I have done to deserve the two of you".

"My darling, you have no idea how terribly happy it makes me to hear you say that! I love you too and you have made me the happiest and proudest man on earth. Since I met you, everything has fallen into place, I have never been happier." He said, leaning towards her to press a warm kiss to her lips.

When he kissed her, Mary felt like she was dreaming and that she would wake up any second. Even though the temperature outside was very near to freezing, she felt warm, warm because he was holding her hand and stood close to her. She looked around for a second and realized where they were stood.

"Matthew, this is where you proposed" she reminded him, leading him over to the old oak tree.

"So it is" he said, following her with a smile on his face.

Together they remembered that day and how they had both felt; Mary's heart had never beat so fast, she felt that she might burst with happiness the moment he proposed to her. Matthew on the other hand had felt so relieved to have finally asked her to marry him after months and months of thinking about it, about where he would propose or how he would ask her. All in all, they both agreed that it was the most romantic, most perfect proposal. Matthew couldn't have chosen a better moment or said it better than he did.

"Shall we head back to Downton?" Mary asked, feeling a little colder than before as the snow started to drop heavier out of the sky. "I don't want George to get a cold".

"I think we'd better, before the snow gets too thick" he said as he took her hand in his and pulled his son closer to him, shielding him from the cold.

* * *

"Where have you been? The snow is starting to get rather thick, we were worried." Said Sybil, walking over to meet them at the door.

"Oh, you weren't really worried were you? We took George out for a walk, we rather enjoyed it." Mary replied as she removed her coat.

"You must be careful not to push yourself too far, you've only just gotten out of your wheelchair…" Sybil said, resting a hand on her eldest sister's shoulder.

"We didn't go far, just to the pond and back and I would have been the first one to make her come back if she wasn't feeling up to it." Matthew interrupted.

"Honestly Sybil, can't I even go for a walk now without you worrying about me?!" Mary asked, wondering what had got into her youngest sister.

"I'll take George upstairs" Matthew said, interrupting again.

Mary smiled at him and nodded and then turned her attention back to her sister, wanting an explanation.

"Mary, I'm sorry but the last time you left the house, and you were late coming back… that terrible accident happened and I-"

Seeing tears form in her sister's eyes, Mary stood her stick up against the wall and slowly limped over to Sybil and put her arms around her. "Darling, I'm sorry for scaring you, but I will have to leave the house sometime, I can't stay inside forever. I know that the accident scared you, god knows it scared me too, but I survived." She said, comforting her sister the best she could.

Sybil swallowed and took a deep breath before pulling away from her older sister. "I know, but, seeing you like that – seeing you in Matthew's arms, I thought – well, I thought I'd lost you!" she mumbled before taking another deep breath.

Realizing how big an impact this had made on her, Mary felt a tear run down her cheek. "Matthew, he saved my life, without him I probably would have – I probably would have died… But the fact is, he was there and he always will be – there for me, and as long as I have him, I know I'll always be okay." Mary said, thinking back to how good Matthew had been and how much she loved him. This made her smile.

Sybil could see how much Matthew meant to Mary and she was so happy that her sister had found happiness, she could see how good they were together.

"Okay, but you must promise never to scare me like that again…" she said, smiling at her older sister and wiping her own tears away.

"I promise." She replied, smiling back at her.

"Good, now tell me about your walk, you said it was rather exciting." Sybil said, changing the subject.

"Well, we walked down to the lake and-" Mary began as they walked together into the drawing room, smiling and laughing.

* * *

"Did you find out what was wrong with Sybil then?" Matthew asked as he pulled the covers back on the bed, ready to get in.

"I did… She was worried something had happened because the last time we were late out, we had the accident…" she answered, getting up from her dressing table to face Matthew.

"Ah, I see…" he replied. "Is she alright now?" he asked, getting into bed.

"She is, she was just a little shaken up, that's all." She said, smiling and heading towards her side of the bed.

"And how are you feeling?" he asked, watching her get in to bed.

"Perfectly fine, why do you ask?" she answered, pulling the covers back over her and snuggling up to Matthew.

"I just wondered…" he replied, smiling at his wife.

"Stop talking and kiss me before I get cross" she said, pushing herself up so that she was facing him.

* * *

"Good morning" Anna said as she entered the bedroom and walked over to the windows to pull the curtains open.

"Good morning Anna" Mary whispered in a groggy voice, pulling herself up into a sitting position and trying not to wake Matthew.

"I'll get out some of your thicker clothes today milady, the weather seems to have took a turn for the worst." The young maid said, staring out of the window.

"Why? What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's thick with snow outside, it snowed quite a lot last night." She answered whilst picking up some of Mary's clothes.

"Oh, Papa wanted me to go into Ripon with him today, I doubt neither of us will be going now." she said, stepping out of bed which woke Matthew up.

"Hello my darling" he said, stroking her arm as she got up. "Good morning Anna" he added, smiling at the young maid.

Anna smiled and nodded at him before going to Mary's side and helping her to stand up.

"Thank you Anna" Mary said gratefully. "It's no problem milady." She answered with a smile on her face as she gave Mary her stick.

Once Mary and Matthew were dressed, they both went downstairs to breakfast, Mary usually took her breakfast in bed but she wanted to ask her father about their trip to Ripon.

"Ah papa" she said, seeing him at the table when she entered the dining room, followed by Matthew. "You're not still going to Ripon today are you?" she asked, slowly making her way towards the food.

"I am, you were going to come with me weren't you? In fact, I'm going to see Murray and I want your opinion on something." He said, not taking his eyes of his newspaper.

"But surely the chauffeur won't want to take us, with the bad weather and all." She replied, watching the snow fall through the window.

"I've already asked him and he says as long as he drives slowly, we'll be fine, besides, it isn't very far." He said before finishing his breakfast and putting his paper down.

"Can I join you?" Edith interrupted, overhearing the conversation. "Michael Gregson is in Ripon this week and he wanted to ask my advice on his new column."

"I don't see why not." Robert replied.

Mary rolled her eyes; she didn't really want to share the car with Edith but she knew she didn't have a choice.

"Oh, well then what time are we leaving?" she asked, turning round to face her father who was making his way towards the door.

"Half past nine I think." He said, leaving the room.

"What's all this?" Matthew asked as he sat down opposite his wife.

"I'm going in to Ripon today with Papa, I'm going to choose some new dresses and as you heard Papa want my opinion on something, although I don't really know why seeing as he will probably ignore whatever I say anyway." She replied, taking a bite of her toast.

"Would you like me to come with you?" he asked.

"No, it's alright, I wouldn't want to bore you, and it would be a waste of your day." She said.

"Well if you're sure. I think I might go down to the cottages with Tom later on." He said, taking a sip of his tea.

"Well then, I better be going, I don't want to keep Papa waiting." She said as she stood up, leaning on the table for support. She walked round to Matthew and kissed him on the cheek. "See you later" he whispered before she left the room, followed shortly by her sister.

Mary didn't feel very enthusiastic about the drive, the last time she had been in a car was the day of the accident and she didn't think it was very wise to go out in the snow, especially because the ground was rather icy.

"Mary, do hurry up dear!" Robert called out from the car. "We don't want to be late."

"Just a moment, I'm coming!" she shouted back as she limped over to the car where her father and sister were sat waiting for her. She slid into the car, and sat next to Edith. Robert never rode in the front but there wasn't much room in the back this time. "Papa, are you sure this is a good idea? Going out in the snow like this?" she asked, leaning forward towards him.

"We'll be fine, the snow and ice will have melted by the time we get there." He said, turning back round to face the road as they set off.

Mary looked up at the sky which was still very white and full of snow. She looked down at the snow that covered the road and took a deep breath before leaning back and closing her eyes.

Only fifteen minutes had passed and the snow was getting thicker and thicker.

"Papa, please, shouldn't we turn back to Downton? We could always go to Ripon next week." She said, feeling quite nervous.

"Really Mary, we'll be fine, if the car was going any slower it would stop so stop worrying." He answered without even turning around.

Mary felt her legs and hands shaking, visions of the accident kept going round and round in her head. She felt her heart begin to beat faster and she felt rather sick.

"Mary, are you quite well? What is it?" Edith asked, noticing Mary's hands shaking. "You very pale". She added.

"I don't feel too good" she answered, turning to face her sister. "In fact, I need to get out of the car." She whispered.

"What's going on?" Robert asked, turning round to see what all the panicking was about.

"I need to get out of the car." She whispered again, looking down at her seatbelt. "I need to get out!" she said louder and faster this time. "Stop, stop the car! I need to get out of the car!" she shouted as she tried to undo her seatbelt with her shaky hands.

"Mary, calm down!" Edith said, putting a hand on her sister's hands, stopping her from undoing her seatbelt and putting another hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, what's the matter?!" she asked again.

"Please, please stop! Stop. I need to get out!" she shouted again, as she burst into tears. The chauffeur slowly stopped the car in the middle of the road but before the car even came to a halt, Mary had open the door and jumped out. "What on earth is the matter with her?!" Robert demanded to know, turning round to Edith for an answer. She didn't give him one though, she just undid her own seatbelt and climbed out of the car herself, quickly walking over to where Mary was sat down in the snow on the side of the road.

Mary had sat down in the thick snow, and was cradling her head in her arms as she cried. All she could think about was the bad weather the night of the crash. She had told Matthew to stop but he didn't and she had ended up… well she had ended up fighting for her life.

Seeing her sister so upset, Edith crouched down in front of her and put her arms around her. She wasn't used to being so nice to her, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for her, after everything that she had been through.

"Mary, what-"

"The car… the rain … the fog…" Mary mumbled all these words but Edith couldn't work out what she was saying. "I told him to stop" she said, squeezing her eyes tighter together, tears running down her cheeks. "Mary, calm down, he did stop, you're alright, you're safe." Edith told her, not understanding what she meant.

"No, don't you see?" she asked, lifting her head up and looking her younger sister in the eyes. "The night of the crash, the weather was so bad, so terribly bad and Matthew, he didn't stop, he didn't stop the car and then it happened. I can't do that again. I can't!" she shouted, sounding a lot clearer this time and making more sense.

Having understood what she meant, she put her arms back round her sister and kissed her cheek before walking over to her father.

"Well?" Robert asked impatiently.

"I think that she's associating being in the car in the bad weather with the accident…" she began, looking over her shoulder at her sister before turning back to her father. "I don't think that she has fully recovered from it yet…" she added.

"I see…" he replied, not knowing what to say. "How could I have been so stupid?!" he said, raising his voice a little. "I should never have asked her to come. I should have known."

"You couldn't have known, Papa. It's not your fault." Edith answered, taking hold of her father hand.

"Well how can we get her home if she won't get back in the car?" he asked, staring at Mary, sat on the floor crying.

"I'll walk back to Downton with her, it will only take us about half an hour if we cut through Mr. Mason's field. I'll keep an eye on her and when we get back to Downton, I'll make sure she's alright." Edith said.

"This isn't like you, wanting to help Mary" he observed. "I know and although it's hard to admit, she probably would have done the same for me." She said, smiling at her papa before walking back over to Mary and helping her to stand up.

Robert headed back to the car and told the chauffeur to turn around. As the car passed the two sisters, Robert winded his window down.

"I'll go back to Downton and let them know what has happened, are you sure you're okay to walk?" he asked.

"We'll be fine, the fresh air will do us both some good." Edith replied.

Mary just stared at her father, her deep brown eyes full of tears, her mouth slightly open, and then she looked down at her feet and carried on walking next to her sister as the car drove on.

* * *

_End of chapter 4. I hope you enjoyed reading it, i enjoyed writing it. I should be posting chapter 5 some time next week, I have a few ideas for it already but if you have any ideas or suggestions, please leave them in the reviews!x_

_Please favorite or follow the story to make sure not to miss any of the chapters. If you could leave a review after reading that would be really nice too. Thanks again for reading!:)_


	6. Chapter 5

_Thank you again for taking time to read my story. And i'm sorry that it has taken me a while to post this chapter but I had a lot of school work to do but it's the holidays now so i will be posting a lot more :) I hope you enjoy this chapter and i'm sorry that it's quite short.. but i promise that the next chapter will be a lot longer and a happy endening could be just around the corner. _

_What happened at the end of chapter 4:_

_"I'll go back to Downton and let them know what has happened, are you sure you're okay to walk?" he asked._

_"We'll be fine, the fresh air will do us both some good." Edith replied._

_Mary just stared at her father, her deep brown eyes full of tears, her mouth slightly open, and then she looked down at her feet and carried on walking next to her sister as the car drove on._

* * *

**Chapter**** 5:**

Robert had just arrived back at Downton and as he entered the house, Matthew and Tom were just on their way out.

"You're back early, where's-" Matthew pointed out before being cut off by Robert.

"Matthew, my boy, Mary is in quite a state" he began, rubbing his head, trying to think of what to say "On our way to Ripon, she demanded we stop the car and then she began shouting and crying before jumping out of the car…" he said.

"Oh god! Where is she? Is she alright?" Matthew asked, pulling his hat off his head and playing with it nervously.

"She is walking back, with Edith of course. I don't know much more I'm afraid, you'll have to ask her…" Robert replied.

"Which road did you take?" Matthew asked, opening the door.

"We drove up by the lake, but-" before he could finish, Matthew had already ran out of the house and across the driveway.

He could feel his heart beating faster and faster as he ran, he felt so out of breath but he never stopped, not even for a second. His legs were aching and he felt like he might collapse but he kept going. He had to get to Mary… Why had she reacted that way? What had brought it on? He just wanted to make sure that she was alright.

As he turned the corner, he saw two people in the distance, he stopped and squinted his eyes; it was Mary. He set off running again in her direction, this time a lot faster than before.

"Mary, Mary my darling" he shouted, nearly too out of breath to speak. As he got closer to her he didn't stop running, he ran straight up to her and pulled her into his arms.

Mary collapsed against him and broke down in tears. He held her up with one arm and he pressed his other hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair and trying to comfort her.

"Oh Matthew!" she whispered into his chest. He barely heard her over her crying.

"It's alright my darling" he whispered in her ear before kissing the side of her head. "You must be terribly cold" he said, feeling how cold her cheeks were. He let go of her for a minute and pulled his coat off before putting it around Mary and taking her back in his arms. He glanced over at Edith and mouthed "what happened?"

Edith walked towards him and whispered "Being in the car, in the bad weather, it reminded her of the crash…"

Understanding how scared she must have felt, he closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm so sorry my darling" he said, pulling her face up so that she was looking him in the eye.

"I feel so stupid now" she replied, wiping away her tears. "I couldn't bear to be in the car, not in this weather, not when – not when I nearly died last time." She said, tears rolling down her cheek.

"It'll all be alright, I promise" he said "and there's no reason for you to feel stupid, you've been through a lot, anybody would feel the same way in your situation and you're doing so very well, I'm so proud of you, you've already come so far; you have only just come out of your wheelchair and you're already going on long walks!" he reassured her.

"He's right Mary, you've come such a long way in a small amount of time." Edith added.

"Why don't you two head back to Downton together, I'll be right behind you, it's so cold and I don't want to hold you up. I'll be fine, I just need to walk a little slower, we've walked quite a long way already and-" but before she could finish her sentence, Matthew had put a hand on her back as if he was about to pick her up.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"What does it look like?" he replied, smiling at her.

"Matthew! You can't carry me all the way back to Downton, it's too far, what about your back?!" she asked, shocked as he swept her of her feet and into his arms.

"It's not actually that far" he began "and don't worry about my back, you hardly weigh anything". He added, smiling at her as he set off walking, Edith right behind him.

When they arrived back at Downton, Matthew put Mary down and the three of them walked through the doors together.

"Carson, would you have Anna bring some tea up to Lady Mary's room please?" Matthew asked the butler who was standing at the door, waiting for them to return.

"Of course" he replied, walking towards the servant's staircase.

"I'll go let papa know that you're back." Edith said, heading towards the library.

Mary gave her an appreciative nod and then turned her attention back to Matthew.

"I'm so sorry Matthew, I don't know what came over me…" she began.

"Mary, you haven't got anything to be sorry for, it's not your fault, you should never have gone out in the snow in the first place." He replied. "Now come on, let's get you upstairs."

Mary walked up the stairs with a little help and support from Matthew and once she reached her bedroom, she opened the door to find Anna placing two cups of tea of the little table, by the fire.

"Milady, I've brought you your tea, would you like anything else?" she asked, picking up the tray.

"No, that's all, thank you Anna." Mary answered, smiling at her lady's maid.

Anna left the room and Matthew guided Mary over to the couch where she sat comfortably in front of the fire.

"Aren't you staying?" she asked as he turned around and headed towards the door.

"Do you want me to?" he asked back.

"Matthew, I always want you" she replied, smiling in his direction. "Besides, Anna has brought you some tea too."

"Well then I suppose I am staying." He grinned, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"Good". She answered before taking a sip of her drink.

They talked about the eventful morning they had had whilst drinking the hot beverages and once they had both finished, Mary moved closer to Matthew, snuggling up to him and closing her eyes.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, placing his hand on her shoulder and stroking it back and forth.

"Much better" she replied, lifting her head up so that she was facing him. "Thank you" she whispered before pressing a warm kiss to his lips.

"I love you so very much" he said, looking into her deep brown eyes.

"I love you too" she replied, kissing him again before leaning against him again.

Mary wondered what had come over her earlier that morning but she didn't really want to think about it, not now anyway, all she could think about was how warm and safe she felt in Matthew's arms and how much she loved him.

Matthew couldn't have felt happier, he was holding Mary in his arms and just knowing that she was safe and happy made him happy. He smiled to himself, knowing that he was married to the most beautiful woman in the world, in his opinion.

Mary had just closed her eyes and was drifting off to sleep against Matthew's shoulder when George began to cry.

Matthew sat up and gave Mary a look before getting up from the couch.

Mary didn't want Matthew to move, she was perfectly happy laying there. It was all so cozy, they didn't normally get time to their selves.

"Will you come back?" she asked, staring at him.

"I'll bring George with me." He said, smiling at her before leaving the room.

He returned not long after with George in his arms. As soon as he saw his mama, a smile appeared on his little face and he reached out for her.

"What was all that crying about?" she asked as she reached out for her son and took him into her arms.

"I think he just wanted some attention" he replied as he sat back down, next to Mary.

"Is that right?" she asked her son as he cuddled up to her on her lap. Mary rested her head back against Matthew and the two of them watched George as he played with Mary's sleeve.

"I wonder when he'll say his first word.." Matthew said, staring at his son.

"Very soon I should think, Mama told me that I said my first word when I was about eleven months old." She told him

"Really? And what was your first word?" he asked curiously wanting to know as much about her as he could.

She turned around to look him in the eye and she just smiled. "No" She replied.

"That was your first word? No?" he asked humorously.

"Well yes, I never really liked my nanny or my governess so I suppose I wanted to say no to them as quickly as I could… Naturally my next words were mama and papa." Noticing that he was laughing, she stopped talking and smiled curiously at him. "What is it?" she asked.

"You were so very stubborn even at that age, you must have been quite a handful." He replied, a grin on his face.

"Well go on then, what was your first word?" she asked.

"Book" he reviled. "My father used to read to me before I went to sleep every night, and so that was my first word." He said, staring at his son, a sad expression on his face.

Without saying a word, Mary just hugged him. She had both her parents so she couldn't even begin to imagine how Matthew felt, not having had a father during his childhood.

"He would be so proud of you, of what you have become" she said, smiling at him and trying to comfort him.

"I hope so" he replied, kissing Mary on the forehead.

"One day you will be the Earl of Grantham, of Downton, of course he would be proud of you my darling!" she added before pressing another kiss to his lips.

Wanting to change the subject, Matthew turned to his son and stroked his head.

"I wonder what his first word will be" Mary said, looking down at her little boy who was nearly asleep in her arms.

"Mama, no doubt" Matthew answered "He loves you so very much, I don't see how it could be anything else." He added, watching as Mary stroked George's arm.

"Oh I'm not so sure, he does love you rather a lot!" she whispered, not wanting to awaken her son.

"We'll just have to wait and see" he said "but you are so good with him my darling." He added, smiling fondly at her.

* * *

Edith who had been worried about her sister decided to head upstairs to see how she was. When she arrived in front of Mary's bedroom door, she pushed it open and peered around it.

"Mary I-"she began but then she saw the three of them, asleep on the couch, cuddled up to one another. She smiled at the sight and slowly walked backwards, gently closing the door behind her.

* * *

_That's all for chapter 5, again i'm sorry that is wasn't longer but like i said, the next chapter will be A LOT longer and I hope you'll enjoy it._  
_Please leave reviews, they really do make my day and encourage me to write more and quicker. Again, if you have any suggestions or ideas, just let me know. Thank you for reading!:)x_


	7. Chapter 6 - Epilogue

_This is the last chapter, thank you so much for sticking with me and reading the whole story. It's the first long fanfic i've ever wrote and the views and your reviews have made it worth while!  
_

_What happened at the end of chapter 5:_

_"I wonder what his first word will be" Mary said, looking down at her little boy who was nearly asleep in her arms._

_"Mama, no doubt" Matthew answered "He loves you so very much, I don't see how it could be anything else." He added, watching as Mary stroked George's arm._

_I hope you enjoy it!x_

* * *

**Chapter 6 (EPILOGUE):**

Another year had passed since everything had happened. George was now nearly two years old and Mary had just given Matthew their second child; a beautiful little girl who, apart from the fact that she had Matthew's blue eyes, was the spitting image of Mary.

"What shall we call her?" Matthew asked as he laid next to Mary who was cradling their newborn baby.

"How about Rose?" she asked after hesitating.

"Rose…" he repeated, looking down at his daughter. "It's perfect, it suits her." He replied, pressing a kiss to Mary's lips before turning his attention back to Rose.

"… and because your mother has been so good to me, helping out with both births, I thought that maybe we could use her name as a second name." she said, shyly, turning to face Matthew. "What do you think?"

"I think… that mother would be overwhelmed. It would certainly make her very happy." He answered.

"Rose Isobel…" Mary whispered to her daughter who was fast asleep in her arms.

Matthew couldn't have felt happier, he was so proud of Mary and so grateful to her for giving him two beautiful children.

Matthew pressed another kiss to Mary's forehead before whispering to her "I'm so very proud of you, my darling, I love you".

Mary felt overwhelmed by the whole situation and a tear rolled down her cheek. She now had a son and a daughter, she felt so complete. She never thought that she could be this happy.

"I love you too my darling" she whispered back with the biggest smile on her face.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Cora walked in with George by her side.

"How are you feeling?" Cora asked her eldest daughter as she walked into the room.

"Just a little tired" she replied, smiling at her mother.

"George was feeling rather left out, so I brought him up, you don't mind do you? I can take him back downstairs if you want to rest." She said.

"No it's fine, let him stay" Mary answered.

Matthew got off the bed and walked over to his son. "Would you like to meet your baby sister?" he asked, reaching his hand out for George to take.

"I'll leave you for now then" Cora added, smiling fondly at her daughter.

"Oh, mama, would you send Isobel up? We have something we would like to tell her." Mary said.

Cora just smiled and nodded before leaving the four of them alone for the first time.

Matthew led George to the side of the bed where Mary and the baby were.

"Look George, this is your baby sister, Rose." Matthew told his son, gently stroking Rose's head.

George stared at her for a while and then looked up at Mary and smiled. "Baby?" he asked.

"Yes, this is your baby sister." Mary replied, smiling back at her son.

The little boy reached out for his sister and gently put a hand on her foot, standing on his tip toes trying to get a better view of her.

"You must be careful, George, she is very small." Matthew told his son whilst lifting him up onto the bed next to his mama.

He reached out again and this time he touched her little hand and turned around to look at his mama to check that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

Mary looked up at Matthew and smiled, seeing how good George was with Rose made her feel so very happy, she felt like she could cry.

Matthew smiled back at her, whilst keeping an eye on their son. He didn't think that George would act like this straight away, seeing as he was very close to Mary, he expected him to be a little jealous, but he wasn't, which made Matthew feel so proud of his son.

Just then, there was another knock at the door. This time they knew who it was.

"Come in." Mary said, raising her voice a little.

Isobel entered the room and the sight of the four of them together made her smile.

"How are you both?" she asked, walking over to them.

"We're both fine." She answered.

The older woman kissed Matthew on the cheek before bending down to admire her youngest grandchild.

"She is beautiful" she said, smiling at the little girl. "She has your eyes" she told her son.

"But the rest of her is all Mary" he added "She's perfect".

"Have you chosen a name?" she asked, standing up straighter and looking down at Mary.

"Well, that's the reason we asked you to come up" Mary began, "we have chosen a name and we wanted you to be the first to hear it." She looked up at Matthew and he smiled at her. "We've decided to name her Rose Isobel".

"Oh my dears! I can't tell you how happy that makes me." Isobel said, tears of joy running down her face. "Thank you!" she added.

Matthew took Mary's hand in his and squeezed it. She looked up at him and smiled.

"You helped bring her into the world, so it's only right." Mary added.

Isobel bent down and kissed her daughter-in-law on the cheek before kissing her son's cheek again. Turning her attention to her grandson who had been watching them from the bed she asked "And how do you like having a little sister?"

George smiled shyly at his grandmother. "He's taken it a lot better than we thought he would" Matthew said. "He has been brilliant with her".

"I'm glad to hear it." She replied. "I'm afraid I must be leaving now, it's rather late and I don't want to keep the chauffeur waiting". She said, not really wanting to leave her grandchild.

"Thank you for everything today" Mary said, giving her an appreciative smile.

"Yes, thank you Mother" Matthew added, kissing her on the cheek.

"It was nothing, really… but thank you for naming her after me. It means a lot." She answered before hugging her grandson and leaving the room.

"That went well" Matthew said, looking at Mary who just smiled back at him.

Just then, baby Rose sneezed.

"Bwess you" George said straight away, staring at his little sister.

Mary's heart nearly melted, she looked up at Matthew who was giggling. Mary couldn't get over how sweet her little boy was. Matthew sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and put his arm around her. Mary rested her head against his shoulder and watched her two children with love, pride and fascination.

* * *

_It was Rose's first Christmas and she was now three months old. It had been snowing all week so this Christmas was a very white one._

Mary and Matthew had been looking forward to Christmas this year because it was their first Christmas with Rose.

All the family was gathered downstairs for luncheon, including Violet and Isobel. The children were upstairs in the nursery having their lunch before they could come down and open their presents.

"I can't wait to see George's face when he opens his model plane." Mary said, getting more and more excited.

"Neither can I." Matthew replied with a grin on his face.

"Is Lily excited?" Mary asker her youngest sister.

"She has done nothing but speak of Christmas for the last couple of weeks!" Sybil joked.

Everybody smiled and laughed and carried on eating their Christmas dinner. Later on, once they had all finished eating, Nanny brought the children downstairs in to the library.

"Lily, come here darling" Tom said, reaching out for his daughter who ran over into his arms.

Matthew took Rose from the nanny and George walked next to him over to where Mary was sitting, by the fireplace.

"Hello my darling!" she said, smiling at her son. "Happy Christmas".

Matthew sat down beside her and placed Rose in her arms. Mary bent down and kissed her daughter on the forehead. Rose stared up into her mama's eyes and smiled.

Suddenly they heard laughing and turned around to see Lily opening her presents with a big grin on her face which made everybody smile.

"Would you like to open your presents?" Mary asked her son who looked up at her and nodded, a big smile on his face.

Matthew passed him a few presents and they watched as he opened them one by one. When he saw his toy plane, his face lit up and he looked up at his parents and thanked them both.

Mary watched him, she was glad he liked his presents. He then walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek and thanked her for all his toys.

Once he had opened all his presents, Mary opened Rose's for her.

"What's this Rose darling?" she asked her daughter as she showed her the little brown teddy bear with a tartan bow around its neck.

The little girl reached out for it and chewed on its ear whilst making gurgling noises. Mary watched her with a smile on her face, she loved her so very much – and George.

"Do you think she likes it?" Mary asked.

"I think she does rather!" Matthew laughed as his daughter slavered all over the poor teddy bear's head.

Mary laughed at her before opening the rest of her presents which were mostly dresses from Cora but then she found a little present that she hadn't seen before and when she opened it, she found a little silver bracelet, placed in a little pale pink box that read 'Rose' on it.

Mary looked around the room wondering who the beautiful gift could be from and as she did, she noticed that Violet was staring directly at her with a smile on her face.

"Granny, is this from you?" she asked.

"Yes dear, I had my maid collect it from a jewelry shop in London the last time I was there." She replied.

"It's lovely, thank you granny" she added. "Look Rose, Granny Violet has got you this bracelet for when you are old enough to wear it."

"It would look lovely with the navy dress I got her" Cora said, smiling at her granddaughter.

"It would." She said "Thank you, both of you." She added appreciatively.

After both their children had opened their presents, Mary passed baby Rose over to Matthew and went to get Matthew his present.

"Here, I hope you like it" she said, handing him a little box that was perfectly wrapped.

"Darling, you really didn't have to" he said, taking the present from her hands whilst smiling at her.

Mary watched him open it. Inside the box, were two silver cufflinks engraved with George and Rose's initials.

"Thank you, my darling" he said, smiling down at them before leaning over to kiss her.

"You're welcome, I hope you like them." She replied, smiling at him.

"I love them, you couldn't have gotten me a better gift." He answered.

"Good, I'm glad" she began "You know, you're rather difficult to shop for" she joked.

He smiled fondly at her before handing her her gift. They had told each other no gifts this year seeing as they wanted to spend their money on presents for the children instead but they had still bought each other a little something.

Mary stared at Matthew as he handed her the gift.

"What? Did you really think that I wouldn't get you anything?" he asked, grinning at her.

"You didn't have to" she replied, taking the present from him.

"I wanted to." He added.

Mary opened the present and smiled when she saw what it was.

"Perseus and Andromeda" she whispered as she ran her finger over the antique book cover.

"Look inside" he whispered back.

She did as he said and opened up the book, on the back of the cover, she found a few handwritten lines. She looked up at Matthew and smiled.

"Read them" he said softly.

She looked back down at the book and read:

_"Doubt thou the stars are fire;  
Doubt that the sun doth move;  
Doubt truth to be a liar;  
But never doubt I love._

_Mary, my darling, my heart belongs to you.  
I love you more than words could say.  
Yours forever, Matthew."_

After reading these words, she felt so overwhelmed that she didn't even know what to say, a tear ran down her cheek as she turned to face Matthew. Their eyes locked and he knew exactly what she wanted to say and he knew that his present had pleased her, and that's all he needed to know.

"I love you" she mouthed.

He leaned over, making sure not to squash Rose and put his arms around Mary before pressing another warm kiss to her lips.

Later on, after everyone had opened their presents and were settling down in front of the fire, Matthew whispered something to Mary and left the room. When he returned, he told George and Lily to follow him outside. Mary and Sybil followed with Rose.

"Come along, I've got something to show you" Matthew whispered, reaching his hand out for George to take.

Mary gave Matthew a knowing grin.

"Put your coat on darling, it's quite cold outside" Mary told her son.

Once they had got wrapped up, Matthew took George and Lily outside.

"Look what I've found" Matthew said, pointing towards something that looked little hoof prints in the snow.

"What are they?!" Lily asked, crouching down next them and touching the tracks with her fingers.

"Well they look like reindeer tracks to me!" Matthew said, making both children's faces light up.

"Reindeer tracks?!" Lily asked.

"Yes, they do look like reindeer tracks to me." Mary said, pretending to examine them.

Lily looked up at her mama, shocked. "Mama, are they really reindeer's footprints?" the little girl asked.

"It looks like it, your papa thought he heard them outside last night." Sybil told her daughter, trying to keep a serious expression on her face.

Having heard what her mama had just said she looked at George who looked shocked.

"Why don't we go see if you can find the reindeer?" Matthew proposed.

As soon as he did, they both jumped up and ran into the large garden.

"Wait for me then." Matthew shouted after them.

"Don't be too long." Mary shouted after him.

"We won't, I'll just take them for a short walk." He replied before catching up with the children.

Later on, Mary and Matthew were getting ready for dinner. Matthew hadn't been back from his walk very long. He walked into their bedroom where he found Mary sat at her dressing table, putting on her favorite perfume. He walked over to her and kissed her before walking over to the bed and collapsing on it.

"You were gone a long time." Mary said, turning round on her chair to face him.

"They didn't want to come back until they saw the reindeer" he replied, sounding quite exhausted.

"How did you get them to come back then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I told them that the reindeer must have already gone back to the North Pole but that we might see them next Christmas." He replied, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Ah" she replied "You do realize you will have to do this every year now my darling" she joked.

"It was worth it, just seeing their faces" he added.

"I suppose it was" she replied, smiling at him and then turning back to face herself in the mirror. "I can't decide which necklace to wear, what do you think?" she asked him, showing him both necklaces.

"Oh, that reminds me, I got you another present." He said, getting up from the bed and picking out a thin box from one of the drawers.

"Matthew, you already gave me a present, you really didn't have to get me another one." She said, smiling at him.

"I wanted to my darling." He said, walking over to her and handing her the gift.

She looked down at the box and gently opened it, revealing a beautiful diamond necklace with matching earrings.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed, looking down at the jewels.

"Do you like them?" he asked.

"Matthew, they're… they're perfect!" she replied, running a finger over the necklace.

"I'm glad you like them, they belonged to my great grandmother, I've been wanting to give them to you for a long time but I wanted to wait for the right moment." He said "maybe you could wear these tonight?" he suggested.

"I'm speechless" she said, picking up the diamond necklace. "Do I have to put it on myself?" she asked cheekily.

"Let me" he said, smiling at her in the mirror, taking the necklace from her hands and placing it around her neck before fastening it and pressing a kiss to the back of her neck, just underneath the necklace.

She took her other earrings out and replaced them with the diamond ones to match her necklace. Afterwards, she stared at herself in the mirror and admired her new jewelry.

"Perfect." He whispered into her ear.

Feeling his hot breath so close to her skin made her shiver.

"I love you Matthew" she replied softly, turning around to face him.

She stood up and put her arms around his neck, before kissing him tenderly.

Matthew put his arms around her and kissed her back. "I love you too" he whispered against her lips.

* * *

_Mary and Matthew were outside, enjoying the beautiful spring morning, Mary was sat in the shade in front of the house, Rose was in her bassinette next to her mama whilst Matthew played in the grass with his son, George._

It was a perfect morning, everything felt so perfect and Mary couldn't help but smile. But, in the back of her mind, she had been thinking about something that she had been wanting to do for a long time now, she had just never had the courage to do it before…

"We'll play again later, I need a rest first!" Matthew told his son as he walked over to Mary.

"You look like you had fun" Mary joked.

"Yes!" George exclaimed running up to his mama who stroked his head when he arrived next to her.

Mary smiled fondly at her son.

"I'm going to ask Carson for a drink, would you like one?" he asked Mary.

"Oh, Matthew, wait a minute, I wanted to discuss something with you that has been troubling me for a while…" she began.

"What is it?" he asked sounding a little concerned as he sat down next to her, impatiently waiting for a response.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now and… I think that I would like to go back… to where we had the accident." She finally said, looking away from him and staring into thin air.

"Mary, are you sure? I don't want all our old memories to come back, it was a long time ago now, do you really need to go?" he asked, not quite understanding why she wanted to go back.

"I need to go back there, for me. I haven't been able to get into a car since, Matthew!" she said, raising her voice a little and turning to face him. "You always say that you need to face your fears, don't you?" she asked.

"Well yes…" he replied.

"Well then, that is what I intend to do. I'm going back there, Matthew, with or without your support, but it would be nice if you were there too, it did have a big impact on your life as well, did it not?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're right" he answered, reaching out for her hand. "We could walk down there after luncheon if you like." He suggested.

"Perfect" she replied, looking into his eyes.

After luncheon, they set off down the driveway, they had decided to take the children with them. Mary was pushing Rose in her beautiful laced pram and Matthew kept George by his side.

As they got closer and closer to the site, memories were going round in Mary's head. Seeing that she was turning a little paler, Matthew took her hand in his, looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile which she then returned.

Neither of them really spoke a word on their way there. Mary couldn't really think about anything but the accident and Matthew had no idea what he could say to her to make it all better, so he decided not to say anything but to be there for her, by her side in case she needed him.

As they approached the crash site, Mary stopped walking and just stared at it for a moment.

"Are you alright?" Matthew asked her, squeezing her hand tighter.

She took a deep breath, turned to face him and nodded slowly nodded her head, giving him an appreciative smile.

She swallowed and set off walking again until she was stood in the very place the accident had happened.

She looked around, she left the pram with Matthew and walked down to where the car had fallen on to its side, just off the road. She then walked over to a tree they must have hit and found a slight dent in it where the bark had fallen off when the car had hit it. She ran her fingers over the dent and then lifted a hand to her mouth and tears began rolling down her cheeks. Not wanting her children to see her crying, she turned away from them.

Matthew couldn't bear to see her like that. He walked down the slight hill with their children and put a hand on her shoulder.

George couldn't understand why they were there and what was happening but he knew that something was wrong because he could hear his mama crying.

Matthew turned her around and took her in his arms, pulling her as close to him as he could.

"It's alright my darling, it's over now, it's over." He whispered in her ear.

"Thank you for coming with me, thank you for just being here." She whispered back.

"But Mary, where else would I be?" he asked. "I'll always be here for you, to support you, to love you, never forget that. As long as I am alive you will always be safe because I will look after you and love you until the last breath leaves my body." He told her.

"I love you so much." She said, pulling away from him and pressing a kiss to his lips.

"And I love you." He replied, returning her kiss.

Their attention was suddenly diverted to their son who had just started giggling. He was looking and pointing up at two squirrels that had made a little home higher up in the tree.

Mary and Matthew both looked up with their son and watched the little animals. Mary turned to her son and hugged him. He always knew just how to make her smile.

"I love you too darling." She whispered to her son.

"Love you Mama." He replied, kissing her on the cheek.

"Shall we head back?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, we wouldn't want to be late for dinner now, would we?" she joked.

The four of them set off walking back to the house, the sun was just setting which made the sky appear pink and orange. Mary felt warm and safe, she decided to put everything behind her now, it was over. She was happy.

George ran ahead in the grass and Matthew put his arm around Mary as she pushed their daughter's pram.

"I'm glad we came here today" Matthew began, turning to face Mary as they walked. "We can put it all behind us now and look forward to the future." He said, smiling at her.

"Talking about the future, I need to tell you something" she began, watching her son playing in the grass in front of them.

"What is it?" he asked, curiously.

Mary stopped walking and faced Matthew. "I'm pregnant!" she whispered with a big smile on her face, causing her eyes to sparkle.

"Oh my darling, that's brilliant news!" he exclaimed, taking her into his arms and spinning her around.

Mary couldn't have felt happier, she felt so grateful, she had the most wonderful husband supporting her all every step of the way, the sweetest little boy, the most beautiful baby girl and now she was about to have another one. She felt like the whole thing had just been one big dream and that she would wake up one day, she couldn't believe how perfectly happy she was.

As they walked through the gates to Downton, Mary turned to face Matthew.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"What for?" he asked, facing her.

"For giving me everything I have ever dreamt of, for making me believe in love, for standing by me through the hardest of times, for loving me and for being you."

* * *

**_THE END!_**

_I really hope you enjoyed my fanfic, i loved writing it. It would really mean a lot if you left a review after reading, I love reading them. I hope you liked the ending, I wanted to make the last chapter as good as i could.  
_

_The poem I used in this chapter (in Mary's book from Matthew) was from Hamlet - Shakespeare. _

_After this fanfic, i've decided to write another one and will be posting the first chapter this week as i have already started writing in and i have a lot of ideas!x  
I just want to thank youngfree for giving me a few ideas for this last chapter, it really helped! - Merci !:)  
_

_Thank you so much again for reading, you've really encouraged me to carry on writing :)_


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